Tag: Baby Safety

I received the MAM pacifiers and pacifier wipes several weeks ago and so far so good! Two more great products from MAM!

Both of my kids have been “binky babies,” so I was kind of anxious to see if my nearly one year old (at the time) would take to a new brand of pacifier. Since birth, we have pretty much stuck to using the AVENT Freeflow Pacifier. I also used them for my daughter when she was younger. I never really shopped around or tried different ones, but these pacifiers seemed to work with my kids, so I stuck with them.

The MAM pacifiers I received are very similar. My son honestly didn’t miss a beat when I swapped his usual soother for the new ones – that’s a huge plus! Now, I do know that some kids are more particular about certain products, so I think it’s important to note that my kids really haven’t been picky when it comes to pacifiers, teethers, bottles, etc. The specific MAM pacifier I reviewed is the Glow in the Dark Night Orthodontic Pacifier 6+ months.

Here are some of its key features:

1. It glows in the dark – This is great! I thought this feature wouldn’t be that big of a deal to me, and then I saw how well it glowed in the crib in the dark room at night. I was immediately sold. It was so much easier to find! And I didn’t wake my little one in the process! The only part that glows in the dark is the portion directly opposite the nipple, not the entire shield.

2. Silicone nipple – The pacifier my little guy was used to was also silicone. I’m sure this made the transition easier for him. The silicone is said to feel “familiar, like mom,” so I thought this was important for my breastfed babies.

3. Symmetrical nipple is also “anti-slip”. I like that there isn’t a right or wrong side with these pacifiers. It just makes it more convenient and easier for babies to put their binkies in their mouth independently. It is also better for their incoming teeth. I honestly didn’t notice any differences with the “anti-slip.” You might notice this more with younger babies.

4. They’re BPA Free!

5. There are small openings on the curved pacifier shield. This is important to me because the holes allow air to circulate and my little guy’s skin to breathe better. I don’t have to worry about him getting rashy or his skin breaking down and he is comfortable with the curved shape!

6. MAM offers two sizes, 0-6 month and the 6+ month size pacifier to accommodate growing babies and their development.

To go along with my new pacifiers, I also reviewed MAM’s Pacifier Wipes. These were not a product that I was super accustomed to using. I’m a Mom who finds a bathroom and rinses off her baby supplies or applies the 5-second rule when things get dropped. I will admit, these were nice to have in a bind or on-the–go and their small size (each wipe is 4”x6”) made them even more convenient. I still would not consider them a “must- have.” 40 wipes come in the package and they are advertised as not containing any harsh chemicals and also as being non-toxic. They contain no alcohol, dyes, or parabens. To me, those are important things, especially when I’m wiping off items my kids are going to put right back in their mouths. I wasn’t crazy about the scent. It wasn’t overpowering, it was just unpleasant to me. You could use these to clean any baby item – teethers, toys, pacifiers, etc. You can purchase MAM Pacifier wipes on Amazon for $3.99 here: MAM Pacifier Wipes

Overall, I would give both products great ratings. My son adapted to the pacifier right away, which I think speaks volumes. Even though I wouldn’t use the wipes on a daily basis, they are smart and convenient to use, especially in a pinch.

Be sure to take a minute to visit MAM’s website to check out more of their innovative, and award-winning products for every stage of baby that they have been developing for the last 40 years!

**BurritoBuzz received these products at low or no cost for the purpose of review or testing. No compensation for a positive review was provided. All product reviews are based 100% off of our personal experiences and we never guarantee a positive review.**

This past, week my husband and I decided it was time for our 9 week old to move into her big sister’s bedroom (she has been in our room since birth) and I knew we needed a baby monitor to keep an eye on them. She has been sleeping through the night for about two weeks and we desperately wanted to have our room to ourselves again, my poor husband has been on the couch since she came home! We weren’t concerned about having a video monitor, as our iPhones and iPad could double as monitors (and it saves money!). We just wanted a good camera that we could hear and see our girls on. We went with the D-Link Day & Night DCS-800L Wi-Fi Baby Monitor and I am so glad! I don’t know much about baby monitors or cameras for that matter, but this one has exceeded my expectations!

First off, it’s small so we attached it to the top corner of my daughter’s crib to where we can see the baby and also my three year old in her bed. The way we set it up in their room up is perfect for the angle we get with the camera. It can be set up wirelessly or plug it in. We opted to just plug it in so we didn’t have to worry about a dead battery but the wireless option is nice so we can use it anywhere. It also has all of the features I wanted in a monitor. The video picture is incredibly clear for a baby monitor. I am pleasantly surprised with the quality. I love that you can snap pictures or take videos right from the live feed. So if your baby or toddler is doing something cute, it automatically saves to your camera roll.

Features:

It has 2-way audio so you can sooth baby without going into the room\

Infrared night vision, sees up to 16 feet

Prerecorded 5 soothing lullabies

4x digital zoom

802.11n wireless lets you place the camera anywhere

Motion or sound alerts when baby moves or cries

Notifications can be sent to your phone for detected events

3 interchangeable accent rings: yellow, pink and blue

H.264 video compression and PCM audio

Snap photos or record video live video with app

Can be powered by an external USB battery

Compatible with iPhone and iPad using iOS 5.1.1 or higher

Compatible with Android smartphones and tablets using Android 4.1 or higher

Once you set up the camera, you download D-Link’s free app. It’s easy to do and takes a minute. When your D-Link account is setup, you can access the camera remotely as long as you have wi-fi connection on your tablet or phone and also through the website so you can see baby from any computer, anywhere in the world. The video quality is superb, even at night, so you can always see baby perfectly. The infrared night vision turns on automatically when blinds are drawn or at night. The app offers so much for parents’ peace of mind, like movement and sound alerts (that you can also get e-mailed to you) and even if your phone or tablet is locked, you can still hear what is going on which is so important as it won’t kill your battery!

I am so glad we went with this camera. The price is on point as well at $99.99 (I purchased from Kmart but it’s available at many stores or websites). We have had zero complaints and are thrilled that it works so well. There are several different models, some of which have panning capabilities, which is the only feature I now wish this model had but I am very impatient and a local store had this model in stock so I didn’t have to order it online. But overall, I give it 5 stars. I honestly can’t find anything wrong with it!

Baby gates. Often necessary, but almost always ugly and inconvenient. More often than not, they don’t fit the space that you need, or require being hard-mounted directly into the wall. My home is a century home, and drilling in to that original woodwork just wasn’t happening. The space that we needed a gate for was also far wider than a typical gate opening.

There are very few options for wide gates that pressure mount. Even fewer that are appeasing to the eye.

Thankfully, Summer Infant solved all of my problems. Their gate is dark gray metal, and has a nicely finished wooden door. It has a total of 4 pieces that easily fit together to fit the width of most areas. We needed all four pieces to span our doorway. The pressure mount was simple, though much easier with two people if you’re using the widest setting. The pressure mounts have a rubber backing to protect the surface of your wall and also keep the gate from sliding.

The gate also is easy to open with one hand, something very necessary if you’re carrying your baby/toddler in your other arm. This gate does not automatically close like many others, but I prefer gates that aren’t spring-loaded.

My son has become a running, climbing maniac in the last month. I kid you not (pun intended.) I baby-proof one thing, and he finds something else I need to remove from the room.

So, here are my most recent baby-proofing tips:

Corner-protectors. I thought I could live without them, until my son nearly gouged out an eyeball falling. So, the Caring Corners gel guards are now on all corners in my living room. They are incredibly easy to use, and remove. You can get them for $13-16 for an 8 pack on Amazon. The nice thing about these for us: our TV stand isn’t flat on all sides, but they still affixed to the gel protector and stayed on very well.

Baby-Keeps Latches. I actually ended up buying two packs of these, because I loved them so much. Easy to use, and remove. And best of all? You can open them with one hand (which is more practical since we often have a baby/child in the other arm.) These run $20 for 6, and each box comes with a free gift (which is a little snail stick on that keeps doors from closing on your child’s fingers. Great bonus.) You can also snag these on Amazon.

Baby gates. I have several. One of which closes automatically. Sometimes, this is practical, but other times I just want it to stay the EFF open. So, my husband Polish-rigged it with a command strip and hook. Genius, and cheap.

Outlet covers. Obvious. Sometimes you don’t have them though, so use a band-aid as a quick fix until you can pick some up.

Munchkin Latch: I use these on my appliances, particularly my oven, which CAN fall over if the door isn’t properly secured.

Easy DIY Crib Rail Guards: Not only do I not want my little teething baby to destroy the rails of his convertible crib, I also would prefer that he not eat paint and wood chips. Perhaps that’s just me. Either way, you can find the DIY instructions here.

Wiremold: We had wires running along the walls in our living room. I thought it was all kosher, until my son started ripping them from the wall and trying to eat them. Yum. You can get cheap, easy to use wiremold, again, on Amazon.

TV Straps: If your TV is up high, no worries. Ours, however, is not. We quickly realized we needed to secure ours (we secured ours to the TV stand instead of to the wall.) TV Straps can be found here.

No Bulb Nightlight: For obvious reasons, you probably don’t want your LO crushing glass in their palms. This night light comes in a two pack, and there is no bulb that can be crushed by your tiny minion.

For those with cat trees: Secure those suckers to the wall. We have a three-story cat tree that my son recently tried to climb and pull to the floor. It’s heavy, and could really do some damage. We used furniture brackets, but you can use furniture straps just as easily.

An item to avoid? Foam molding. We used it, and it absolutely ruined the finish of our furniture. There are plenty of Pinterest solutions that will work better (like cutting pool noodles in half.)

Remember, all of these solutions are so temporary. You’ll likely have your home baby-proofed with gates and latches for about a year, sometimes a little more. Look for the affordable options! Here are some other great DIY baby-proofing solutions!

My nearly ten month old son is into everything. He’s nearly walking, so he can reach most things, open most things, and destroy most things.

And I have a love-hate relationship with most baby-safety products.

I hate spending money on things that I’m going to use for such a short time.

I do not want to drill holes into all of my nice woodwork.

It all looks like crap. Nothing says “welcome to my home” like giant, white plastic safety locks on all of the cabinets. Need some toilet paper in a jiffy? Good luck.

After using a few very dated safety latches, I went on the hunt. Hello, I’m a mommy blogger. Isn’t that my job? It was time to put my Amazon Prime membership to use (as if I don’t already do that daily.)

I stumbled upon latches from a new company called BabyKeeps. They looked simple enough, and the brown plastic I ordered matched most of my cupboard fairly well (they also come in white.) These will run you right around $20.00. (A little pricey for my personal taste, but I thought they were worth a shot.)

They are straightforward. The latches attach with adhesive. You clean the contact surfaces that you’ll be attaching the latch to, measure the length that you’d like the latch to make it tight and secure, cut off the excess, lock in the end that won’t be opening, and stick both ends on! It takes less than a minute per latch.

Closed Latch

Open Latch

I now have these latches on our kitchen appliances, cupboards, our TV stand, end tables, and our pantry. They have held up very well, and I’m confident that my son will be unable to open any doors that he shouldn’t be opening (I still always have him within eyesight, but with much less worry.)

I love how easy the latch is to get undone and re-latch. I often have my son in one arm and need to be able to undo the latches with one hand. I can do that with these, with very little strain. The latches fasten back together by just pushing the plastic down.

And for those worried about the adhesive ruining your surfaces? Not to worry. Simply take a blow-drier to the surface for a few minutes, and then break the seal with a butter knife. I attached one of my latches incorrectly (because I needed to tighten it,) and quickly removed it and re-attached it with new adhesive.

The kit comes with 6 latches, and one bonus gift, which I love! The bonus gift is a little snail that adheres to a door. The snail can swivel to prevent the door from closing (to save tiny fingers,) or to allow it to close completely. Cute, and practical!

I highly recommend this product from BabyKeeps, and hope to see more from them in the future! As a side note, their product has a lifetime warranty! Icing on the cake (or in my case, guac on the Chipotle bowl.)